By Wairimu Kamande
Nine passengers died in a road accident in Thika at the weekend.
In the Saturday night crash at Githoro, 48 passengers were seriously injured.
They were travelling to Nairobi from Gatanga.
Witnesses said their bus veered off the road, rolled and landed in a ditch.
A doctor at Thika District Hospital’s Ms Irene Mwai said three people died on arrival.
Two others succumbed while receiving treatment. Four others perished at the accident scene.
She said 10 of the injured were transferred to hospitals in Nairobi and 18 others treated and discharged.
The condition of the remaining 20 was stable.
CEREMONY
Sources said the injured, mainly women, were returning from a betrothal ceremony in Gatanga.
The driver of the 64-seater bus is said to have lost control of the vehicle at a sharp bend.
The accident occurred a day after another claimed three lives, one of them an AP, at Witeithie on Thika Road.
The crash involved 10 vehicles. Acting Thika OCPD Hassan Barua said the accident occurred when an oil tanker swerved to an opposite lane to Nairobi, ramming nine vehicles.
The injured were also taken to Thika Hospital where most were treated and discharged.
Thika Road has some of the worst accident blackspots.
NARROW LANES
Accidents on the stretch have been attributed to the narrow lanes and some potholes.
In September, eleven soldiers died in a grisly car accident near Thika town. The soldiers were headed to Thika Barracks after a sporting event in Nanyuki.
The area is a black spot stretching from the Thika town turn-off to Kabiti.
Police said the accident was caused by the slippery road.
